


dreaming with his eyes open

by Purrs



Series: With His Eyes Open [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Season 1 era, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24224122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purrs/pseuds/Purrs
Summary: Jon wanders London with nothing to his name but a multitude of eyes and knowledge no one at this time should possess. Jon sits at his desk in the Archives and does his best to dismiss recent statements about an ominous watcher who seems to have its sights set on the Institute.
Series: With His Eyes Open [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749874
Comments: 10
Kudos: 102





	dreaming with his eyes open

**Author's Note:**

> "He's dreaming with his eyes open, and those that dream with their eyes open are dangerous, for they do not know when their dreams come to an end."  
> \- Hugo Pratt

Jurgen Leitner first meets him when he moves into the tunnels himself. (Jurgen isn’t clear on the date it happens, exactly, but it’s certainly some time after Gertrude’s death. In fairness, Jurgen isn’t clear on the date, well, hardly _ever_ these days. It’s hard to keep track.) He’s a monster, a fact none too surprising in Jurgen’s experience; he isn’t violently hostile towards Jurgen despite that recognition, a fact very surprising indeed. Not that he’s particularly friendly, either. The two of them negotiate near-wordlessly, finding a way to share the extensive tunnels without bothering each other much. They each don’t much care for the other, but they have a shared interest in not being caught by one Elias Bouchard.

Naomi Herne first meets him when she’s making her way to the Magnus Institute, taking deep breaths and going over what she wants to say yet again, and an invisible hand pulls her into an alleyway. He fades into view, all eyes, and asks—demands, really—that she make her statement to him instead. When she’s done, he scowls, mumbles something about _apparently_ not being able to eat the same thing twice, and strides off in a huff. Still walking, he pulls a thin volume from his bag, opens it apparently at random, and fades away again. She’s so shaken that she just goes back home.

Naomi Herne first dreams of him a few nights later, running through endless fog and empty graves and feeling oh so watched.

Jurgen Leitner first dreams of him when he storms up to Jurgen and says that he’s starving, that at least a sad old librarian whose delusions of grandeur had a body count doesn’t-deserve-it _less_ than a lot of other people, and that Jurgen must have some stories he hadn’t heard yet, surely? After getting an explanation out of him, Jurgen agrees. When Jurgen falls asleep that night— _he_ doesn’t fall asleep, he never has since he arrived—it’s ultimately no worse than Jurgen expects, based off of what he’s said and what Gertrude would say on the rare times she spoke about it. Plenty terrifying, certainly, but Jurgen rather wonders if it would be possible to work through the fear and...have a chat, or something. At the least, it can’t hurt to try.

Martin Blackwood first meets him after waking up in the middle of the night, hearing a sound from the archives, and blearily stumbling in to find him crouched on a desk in the dark, holding a statement and reading aloud, five or six tape recorders whirring around him. He’s facing away from Martin but his eyes snap to Martin immediately, though he doesn’t otherwise move a muscle. Martin isn’t proud of it, but chooses to take the better part of valour and go back to sleep.

Jonathan Sims first hears of him from Martin, then in a live statement—Ms. Herne did eventually make it to the Institute—and after that it isn’t too long until Jon meets him in person. Or rather, in a dream.

The fog swirls around them, thick and cold and wet, leaching away warmth and comfort. Naomi has fallen into a grave despite her best efforts. The great staring eye peers endlessly from above, its gaze a piercing weight. And one fresh-faced watcher encounters another, one more accustomed to bearing that load.

Not accustomed to this, though, it seems. The older one stares at the younger staring at him, backs away, ducks behind a worn headstone and falls face-first into its open pit.

Jon looks down into it.

The elder looks up at him. “Hello,” he says.

Jon realises with a chill that the voice is his own. He tries to respond, but cannot muster up the words or the will.

“What day is it?”

Jon still says nothing, but manages to indicate the number four, then eight.

“April...right. Right, that’s a week after Michael—damn, _Michael_.” He grimaces. “For now, ah... There’s worms in the Archives. No, you know that much already. They’re gathering en masse in the tunnels to work on a Ritual. The attack happens July twenty-ninth; you’ll want corkscrews and fire extinguishers, and lots of them.”

Jon wouldn’t know what to say even if he could speak.

The other almost looks to say something else, but subsides. They watch, the two of them, as Naomi makes her way out of the empty ground once more, but finds no reprieve in the cool damp and in the unceasing many-eyed stares.

“I’m sorry,” the other says for her to hear.

She gazes back at him with nothing that resembles trust.

Eventually, Jon wakes up. He is human; he is shuddering; he is cold. Jon doesn’t know what the fuck his subconscious thought it was doing, but he rather isn’t a fan. Despite layering up, he can’t quite shake the bone-deep cold all day.

(Elias Bouchard first meets him at the same time Jon does, though in a rather one-sided way, and astonishment wars with a vicious pleasure.)


End file.
